When the online gates opened at 9am on Sunday, there was such a flood of interest for Sweden's most famous ski race that the website crashed. When the online bug was squashed an hour later, competitors swarmed in and filled the 15,800 places in just 90 seconds.

"In spite of this warm winter, we can only note that the interest for our races has reached entirely new levels which, of course, is the best response we can have for all our work," Vasaloppet CEO Anders Selling said.

"It is fantastic that so very many want to be active and set long-term goals for their training."

The interest in the race has surged since previous years, with 2013's competition selling out in ten minutes.

"Naturally it’s a shame that we can’t make room for all, but Vasaloppet has its 15,800 places and, sadly, many will miss out when the interest is so great," Selling added.

The long-distance race is one of Sweden's favourite sports events, inspired by a now-mythical journey by Sweden's future king Gustav Vasa, who was locked in fierce struggle against invading Danes in 1521.

Swedish royals are no strangers to the race, with King Carl XVI Gustaf braving the cold in 1977, Prince Carl Philip in 2004 and Princess Madeleine in 2008.

Two Norwegians won this year's event, which was held late last month, despite concerns the warm weather would lead to the competition's fourth cancellation.

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